Like many children of a broken home, Ahnk dreamed of better days. And not just wild-eyed fantasies or wishful thinking, actual subconscious projection during his sleep, urging him to continue life. Ahnk began dreaming at a young age. And then his dreams began coming true.

He remembered the first time it happened. He dreamed a dream of childhood minutia; an argument over a stipend doled out by the parents of his friends. Two boys wanting to spend the money on different toys. Young Andrew played the mediator; settling the argument in a mutually agreeable fashion. He thought nothing of the dream, until the fight broke out in his conscious life. Only he didn’t mediate. He merely contemplated in amazement and fear; fear at the new power he had discovered.

For the rest of his life, he was never truly in danger. He saw everything before it happened; accidents, assaults, it was all simply a matter of going to sleep. And when he woke up, he made the necessary adjustments to keep himself out of trouble. It was a very handy thing, to see the future, to dodge danger before it even happened.

It was also very boring.

It got to the point where Ahnk, at nine years old, realized it had been years since he had taken a risk. He had turtled; introverted, dodging any situation that he preconceived as potentially dangerous. He was a shell; empty inside, but safe. Ahnk then remembered something he heard on a holovid; that there was no point in living if you can’t feel alive. The young boy then made a decision.

He fought his instincts and shunned his premonitions. He began to live dangerously. He conditioned himself to ignore his dreams… they came, more vivid everyday, until Ahnk was able to develop his mental faculties to the point where he didn’t have dreams at all. The space between when he fell asleep and woke up was filled only with darkness. It was calming

It was a mistake.

If Ahnk had not fought what was happening to him, if he had not struggled against his emerging force sensitivity, he would have seen the murder of his parents. He would not have gone to the swamp that day; he would not have put them in danger; he would not have been shot. His selfish decision had had an unforeseen consequence. It had destroyed everything he had ever loved.

When Ahnk realized what he had done, he was filled with hatred for what he was, and what he was becoming. He realized that his mother had brought him to Naboo to become a Jedi; to train him into a warrior of righteousness, to mold his powers to a form of control and peace. He realized that in time, he would have been a Jedi, like her. He realized that in time, his dreams would have come constantly, even when awake, always telling him what he should do.

The only problem was that he hated the Jedi.

He refused to become a Jedi. To be taken over by a power he didn’t understand, a power that had ruined his life.

He vowed instead to destroy the Jedi. And the only way to destroy the Jedi, was to become a Sith.

Of course, in making such a choice, Ahnk had once again chosen the self-important decision to make his life easier. Instead of facing what had happened to him and dealing with it, he allowed it to turn him into personified hatred. Hatred at himself. The only way to satiate such hatred was to destroy everything about yourself, to burn it away, and start over.

Ahnk did that. He threw his collected self into the refuse. But when he was done, all that was left, was hate.

He didn’t remember his friends, or his family. He didn’t want to. Nor he could he. Hate had become his only friend. Hate was his accepting family.

Hate was what he was. All he was. And all he would be, for a very long time…





Her name was Aerith Johanason. She didn’t belong there; not that anyone did. But she was there nonetheless.

It was a cargo transport from the core to Yavin. Materials that Ahnk’s master, Exar Kun, had requisitioned from the inner core Sith governments. The girl had stowed away… seventeen or younger, and very lithe she came… hidden in a box of supplies and sneaking out when they were unloaded. When Ahnk discovered her, he attempted to dissuade her. He ignored her. He threatened her. When she showed an affinity for a repatriated animal, he killed it. But despite it all, she refused to run away. And then, slowly, he accepted her.

Exar Kun had gone with the Sith Brotherhood’s allies, The Marzullo Clan, in a conquest. When he left, Gwyneth Archer, Sith Lord Avery, and Xylon Hexrya went with him.

Archer never returned. Neither did Avery, or Hexrya.

And neither did Kun.

The only remaining student of a Master that was never seen again, Ahnk was left in limbo for several years. It would be ages until Master Zeta would come and only after that did Sarah Anderson and Bane Nothos arrive. Several people would come through the years before but none had come since Kun had left, but this one, stubborn girl.

Ahnk considered killing her, but if she was indeed dedicated then perhaps, over time, his guidance would wear off on her. So he kept her around, tolerating her minor annoyances, until one day.

One day, Ahnk decided to go for a walk. It was a walk he had planned for a long time. Somewhere, on the world of Yavin, buried beneath century old forests and rubble of long destroyed temples, was a vast underground city from ancient times. It was known as the Lost City of the Jedi. Ahnk knew that the Sith control of the world of Yavin and it’s moons was uncontested, so when Aerith followed along, he didn’t think anything of it.

Of course, he wasn’t going to be able to have that day. It was like a karmic law of the universe that the sphere of Ahnk’s influence could only ever serve to hurt… that day was no different.

Although Sith control of the planet was definitely never in debate for many decades, Ahnk was not the only Sith in the universe. Although he felt that way sometimes…

No, that day, two uninvited guests joined Ahnk on Yavin Four. Before Ahnk found the Valley of the Jedi, one of them attacked. Had it not been for the girl, it would likely not have been a notable situation. One Sith would have died, and with Ahnk’s mastery of the blade and force enhanced reflexes, he likely would have bested his opponent. But Ahnk now felt an attachment to the girl; he felt like her dark protector, the only one who could truly prepare her for the galaxy at large, the only one who could shield her from the justice all around her. It was, ironic, then, that the Sith immediately attacked her… and Ahnk found himself utterly incapable of shielding her at all.

After taking a blow with a heavy steel gauntlet across the nose, Ahnk dragged himself on cut and ragged hands to the edge of the stream. There, discarded, he saw the mask of his attacker… bent and broken steel, washed clean of tainted blood by innocent water. As he washed away his own tainted blood, the world continued to spin and his head continued to pulse in agony… the opening round of a concussion, no doubt. But through the haze he saw flashes of the fight… he was forgetting…

The girl.

He turned from the stream and ran, which may have been a bad idea with damaged equilibrium. He fell, several times, but stood immediately each and ran again. And then, he fell, one final time, and did not get up. He had fallen beside her body.

She wasn’t moving… not stirring, and only the faintest hint of her breathing was evidenced in her otherwise comatose form. He reached for her head, brushing back her hair, and turning it to the side. As he did, a red cascade fell across her simple white robes. And when he looked closer, he saw what had ultimately did her in. A simple rock, positioned innocently; fallen on with sufficient force to kill, and now coated with the blood and brains of the innocent.

He carried her back to the temple. Deep down, he knew she was dying, but he tried to save her. He tried to heal her with his limited knowledge of the force’s healing powers. He then laid her in the grotto, but it had no solution for the massive injury to her brain. Finally, he had no choice. He laid her in cryogenic stasis.

His hand stayed on the transparisteel casing for several days. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t bring himself to move… he began to turn and found himself unable to do so for many days. She looked, so peaceful… even with skin still stained with now frozen blood and rubbed rough with dirt, she looked calm, and most of all, innocent. It was then that Ahnk realized why he could not move.

Because he was lonely.

When she had first arrived, she had been an annoyance. She has pestered him and disturbed him during his meditation, but gradually, she became a welcome addition to what was otherwise monotonous, and empty dedication to a cause. A cause that may have died with Exar Kun, long overdue. Ahnk had promised to wait. He had waited, and when the girl came he continued to wait.

And suddenly, he couldn’t wait anymore. Because there wasn’t justice, that such a simple and harmless girl had been murdered. That while he waited people died, people he cared about, or once did, lay murdered… and he was waiting.

He couldn’t wait any longer.

Ahnk gave up waiting. Gave up being a bundle of hate and anger. No, from then on, he was a tornado of fury, a hurricane of his hatred, unleashed on anyone and everyone. Ahnk no longer waited for things to happen, instead, electing to kill until he felt better. He would continue killing for a long, long time.

And many years later, when the dust settled…

Aerith Johanason still sat there, frozen. Waiting for the world to be okay.

Capricia - Archives




Librarian Snow watched from her desk as the Vinda Corp man began moving back to the files unsatisfied.

Still, the flower not watered withers and dies.

And the flowering curiosity of the agent would wither and die, if Snow had anything to say about it.

Such inquiries as his were best left in the past where they belonged.

And then the other had come…

Apparently there was some in-fighting among the vaunted corporation.

After they left, Librarian Snow sent a message to the Viscian and resumed her duties within the Archives leaving action to those who knew best.



*



Advanced Research and Development – Bonadan


“Hold it! Hold… There!” came the exultant cry of Geiser Nan, head developer for the Radian Isotope, the theoretical next step in holographic manipulation and design.

He and his fellow researchers had, for the past few weeks, working on a line of theory radically different from the norm.

Holographic technology was moving forward in leaps and bounds and while more and more data was being designed to operate using the same strictures as the Galactic Holonet power systems, the basic premise for this technology was always the same.

Mimicry.

And while the image could be made sharper, it was still dependent on signal strength Geiser and others had started with the notes Seth Vinda had taken from his observation of the Simulacrum Hespante. The Vinda Corp/ala Commonwealth scientists were sure that they could approach the practical applications that Hespante’s existence hinted at.

They had to merge hard-light technology with holographic technology and that was not as easy as it seemed.

Hard-light application required enormous amounts of power and therefore, typically, could not be used at great distances or autonomously as Geiser would have liked.

Holographic projection used sophisticated recognition systems but were dependent upon transmitter/reception systems as well as a tiny bit of environment manipulation.

Geiser and his fellow scientists felt that if they could solve the power generation requirements it would pave the way to answers on the transmission/reception problems respectively.

Whilst agents of the other galactic powers worked with molecular machines to operate as a virus would, Commonwealth scientists took the research a step further.

The bane of the nanomachine was that it was subject to the environment surrounding it. It’s size left it weak and easily destroyed. A machine the size of a molecule compound needed to be amassed to have any real effect.

Changes in water, heat and cold would effectively cause such a creation to fail.

A million nanomachines could be programmed to strip skin off a person (a circumstance that would not happen very quickly given the machine's size) but if the person stepped into a cold room the environment changes would effectively render the machines inert.

Because what designers did not realize is the smaller the machine was, the more pronounced and the more of an impact even the slightest of environment changes had.

So, instead of creating these molecular machines to be autonomous, Vinda Corp and Commonwealth scientists use them to create chemical/biological functions in an attempt to create a self regenerating power source. A power source able enough to handle the requirements of hardlight generation. The scientists figured that the simulacrum Hespante had to be powered someway...

It was a bold move.

And it worked... partly.

They achieved a sustained power output for 25 seconds.

A breakthrough indeed.

Geiser and his collegues went to their breakroom chatting excitedly. When they returned, however, they found an alibino of a man standing next to the containment pod.

"Can I help you?" Geiser asked at first confusing the man with Achinta Vega, Vinda's white haired assistant. His manner was a little upset at the casual (and unprotected!) entrance of this stranger.

"Did it die?" the man merely stated, his manner calm but his voice hostile.

Geiser was taken aback. "Die? We sustained a 25 second power output! But I am going to have to ask you to leave.."

"Sustained.. output?" the albino mumbled and then light dawned and the man seemed to grow taller.

"You defied the Edict!"

"I don't know who you are but you should not be here!" Geiser said forcefully. "Corran, get security!"

The man known as Corran began to act but as he turned he bumped into the albino. Geiser blinked for one second he was standing in front of the albino and the next, the intruder was in front of Corran.

The movement did not even register in his own eyes.

But what did register, and to Corran's surprise, was that the albino's hand was inside his chest. Corran moaned slightly, the life draining from his eyes and his body crumpled to the ground.

Geiser stood in shock and as the albino moved towards him his spoke quickly, "killing me won't stop the experiments!"

And the albino stopped. "You have defied the Edict SOL-03. You will cease your work here and you will ensure that this work stops within your government's sphere."

"Or?" Geiser asked, glancing at the security monitors.

"Or I will sterilize this entire planet."

And the albino disappeared as Geiser shrank to the ground in shock, hitting an alarm to bring security.

Location Unknown

Hyperspace




It was the noise she heard first, the distinct sound of the hyperdrive engines humming contentedly to themselves, then the vibrations it caused as the sounds reverberated inside the interior. Then after , the smell. A metallic , musty, oily scent which seemed to fill her nostrils.

Natalya wasn’t sure how long she had been unconscious, but it must have been for a long while , for she slipped in and out of her lucid state more times than she could count, more than she was aware even.

Hazily, Natalya opened her eyes , and as the dimly lit, smooth metal walls gradually came into focus , for a moment, she wasn’t sure if it all of this was real or imaginary, some kind of bad dream concocted by an overactive imagination.


Then came the pain.


Instinctively Natalya lifted her right hand to nurse her now very sore bottom lip , although the swelling had subsided a little, it still throbbed, and as her fingers made contact she winced in pain slightly.
Glancing down at her fingertips, she checked for blood, and frowned as some was found.

This was certainly no dream.

All of a sudden , Natalya became aware of the cold floor she was lying upon, and in reaction, she pushed herself upright, and looked about.

She was in a caged room, if you could call it that, to all intents and purposes it was a cell. Inside there was a toilet , a single bunk, and that was about it, whoever owned this crate had obviously planned to have a visitor.

The last moments of when she had last been conscious flashed through her mind, and the familiar , overwhelming feeling of dread seemed to drape itself over her, as she remembered everything, making her shiver.

Or perhaps it was simply just the cold floor.


Rising stiffly, but quietly to her feet , Natalya looked forlornly around her cell and narrowed her eyes as she heard a sound eminate further from the innards of the ship…


…voices…


She could just make them out, two people, one she recognised as being the voice of the bald man who had assaulted her, and someone else she did not…


Natalya strained to hear what was being said…

“…no everything is not going as planned, you led me to believe this would be over relatively quickly, I’ve been travelling halfway across this frellin galaxy trying to find her…”

Lux was angry, he didn’t like surprises, and , quite frankly , he’d had more than he’d bargained for already, it was time for compensation…

“..and as such this is gonna cost you extra…” He stated matter of factly…

Lux watched in amusement at the holo-feed as the mass in front of him wobbled in anger…

”…two hundred and fifty thousand , no more!, no less!, that was the agreement!..”(Came the rather sharp reply from the visage before him).

Lux stared coldly at his employer and responded curtly, he was not about to be intimidated, he had what the huge overgrown slug was after, and he was in the bargaining position…

“…Two and a half million..” He said quickly, his eyes not shifting his scrutiny…

”…whaaaaat!?…you must have been in space too long!, that was not our agreement …”

Lux’s eyes grew almost double in size out of anger, and he nearly exploded…

“…not what we agreed!?…I see. Was it agreed I would be running all over this galaxy trying to find the damn girl?…”

”..that should have been understood on your part , you were told it would be difficult to find her…” Came the almost instant response from the holo-feed…

Lux’s eyes narrowed, as he replied sharply…

“…that may be, but what you didn’t tell me was she was a damned Jedi!…”

The figure in front of him looked stunned momentarily into silence…

Sensing the opening , Lux continued…

“..yeah that’s right, you happened to neglect that small piece of information!…”

The figure simply stared at him , unsure whether to believe Lux’s words, before finally responding…

”…Impossible. She’s no Jedi!…do you take me for an idiot!…”

Incensed at the insinuation, Lux reached for the weapon lying on top of the dash and waved Natalya’s lightsabre in front of the screen for the onlooker to see…

“..then what do you call this?…she killed both of those goons you sent along , and , damn well nearly got me…and as such I want extra, this was not part of the bargain”

The figure grew stiff, then relented….

”…I was not informed of this…this is unexpected...Very well, bounty hunter. One million…”

Lux’s glare was transfixed…

“…Two million…”

The figure’s annoyance could clearly be seen even through the holo-feed’s sketchy signal…

”…one and a half, my final offer…”

Lux fell silent for a moment, then nodded slowly…

“…Acceptable. I shall rendezvous as planned…but there had better not be anymore hidden surprises…or its gonna become expensive”

..and before the figure could answer, Lux cut the feed, content at the renegotiation.


As he reflected upon this sudden upturn in fortune, a noise from the back interrupted his thoughts. Reaching for his gun, he crept into the cargo bay, where Vinda’s daughter was being kept hostage.

Entering the bay, Lux planted his gaze firmly on the cell, and within it the still unconscious figure of the girl sprawled on the ground…

Walking up to the cage, he leant forward to get a better look and took in the sleeping figure before him.

She was attractive, hard to believe she had come from someone like Vinda…

He listened to her steady breathing , noticing the slight rise and fall of her body from her breaths…

..very attractive…

Holstering his weapon, Lux moved in closer and gazed across her body and squatted down closer to her, then smiled and whispered quietly, just barely inches from her ear…

“…sweet dreams…”

With that, Lux rose and started to make his way back to the cockpit, only stopping at the doorway to take one last steady gaze upon his precious cargo, before smiling slyly and exiting the bay.

Noble House


The Viscian's shuttle had just arrived from the leader's inspection of the ruins of the Highlands when the news came.


Commonwealth and Bonadan Corporate Security were keeping a lid on the episode until they could get a handle on it.


The Viscian had known that the Commonwealth's technological reach had extended beyond their grasp and as long as the situation continued, he knew there would be more episodes similiar to what the R&D Department experienced.


A man took his coat as he stepped down the stairs that led from the landing platform down into a hall that led to the Grand Hall of the Mansion.


There were others with him.


"Edict SOL-03?" he inquired.


"I have no idea what he's referring too.."


The Viscian chuckled. "Come now, I believe we have some idea.."


"An edict from the Solarian Body, yes. But what the Edict actually implies.."


"Why," retorted the Viscian, "it implies what this fellow," pointing to the scan of the albino, "was trying to accomplish. He definitely wanted the technology halted."


"Lord. If a Solarian was seen taking action, then it stands to reason there will be more such incursions. We must set up the equipment and have the dampening fields activated.."


"No." the Viscian ordered firmly. "Such an act would only alert them. If they are suddenly taking action after so many years, they will show themselves soon enough. I want equipment set up on all critical areas.."


"On Capricia?" one asked.


The Viscian thought for a moment and then shook his head. "No. Critical areas across the Commonwealth."


"More activities means a greater chance of discovery by conventional methods."


The Viscian smiled, "We are but a myth, if even that Coran. The Solarians are a reality to this Commonwealth. While mathmatically you are correct, realistically, we could operate in plain sight without no one the wiser."


"Conventionally." another corrected. "We may fool conventional methodology but simulacrum would discover.."


"Yes, yes..." the Viscian interrupted. "I agree. We are precariously balanced between the Commonwealth and the Solarians. It is the old days all over again."


"I was under the impression that the Solarians were destroyed." another said as they completed their walk and emerged into the Grand Hall. "A rule of thumb to go by: Never believe your own propaganda. They are very much alive. I had held out the hope that after all this time their thinking would have... evolved."

"The fact that it hasn't, leads to some very interesting postulations, my Viscian." an older companion forwarded.

The Viscian stopped and turned to the man. "Noran, you may be onto something. The implications may be staggering indeed. See to it that this angle is investigated."

The older man bowed.

He walked briskly against the wind, blowing warm air into a visible cloud, passing his hands and rubbing them together for warmth. He didn’t remember Ossus being this cold… then again, he didn’t remember much of anything. And come to think of it, he wasn’t really cold. Nor did the warm air on his hands make them warm. Though the snow fell and the escaping breathes formed a visible condensation before dissipating into the cold night air, he felt nothing.

He felt nothing. Remembered… nothing.

He was frightened.

He kept walking.

He didn’t ever remember snow on Ossus… or was it ash? He saw some damaged facades, evidence that something had happened while he was in stasis… something… violent. Maybe it had left the ash. Maybe it had made it cold. Or maybe he didn’t remember snow on Ossus… for the same reason he didn’t remember his name, or why he was here.

Why did he remember Ossus then?

Because the man told him.

The man in the white coat.

Where did the man in the white coat go, anyway?

He couldn’t say. He had been walking for some time. He could no longer see a man in a white coat. Only the other man.

The man in the black cloak.

He kept walking.

Despite the fact that the nice man in the white coat had told him of Ossus, something inside of him remembered the world regardless. Something about the buildings felt familiar… and something was distorted about the snow. Maybe it was the fact that when it hit his body, he didn’t feel the cold… or the damp through his meager robes. He felt nothing.

He remembered… more.

He remembered when he felt…

Sorrow… agony.

Pain.

He now remembered… he had tried to forget.

He kept walking.





“Hello, Andrew. Do you remember me?”

He gently shook his head.

“That’s okay. I wasn’t expecting you to. My name is Gash. I’m your friend.”

Slowly, the robed man nodded. The cloaked man smiled.

“You have lost all of your memory, then? You don’t remember this place? Ossus?”

He shook his head.

“No… Gash… something about this place is familiar. And something… about you… but…”

“It’s okay. Don’t try and rush it. You’ve been in stasis about 20 months. A lot has changed.”

He took a few seconds to look around.

“Including those… blast marks?”

Gash turned, sizing up the buildings to which he was referring. He nodded.

“Yup. Those are courtesy Tiric Brel and Grand Admiral Thrawn. Brought their damn war right to our doorstep. Ossus… it’s a determined planet. Isn’t going to sacrifice its way of life for a few self-important dictators. It’s better then that.”

The robed man, Andrew, nodded.

“Those… scars… new?”

Gash shook his head.

“Nope. New to you.”

“I… don’t…”

“You must be cold, in those meager robes?”

“No… not… really…”

“Well, hell, I am. Let’s go inside. Are you hungry?”

“Not… I don’t…”

“Hey man, it’s okay. I’m your friend. Friends don’t let friends sit in the freezing cold without having eaten in a year and a half.”

And then Gash threw an arm around his neck, walking him back inside.





Do you remember, when we used to play by the lake?

Skip stones and duck in the ferns?

Remember that time I didn’t come home?

You don’t remember me, do you?

I am what you are. What you should have been.

I am your innocence lost.

Give it some thought. I’m not going anywhere.

I still remember.

It’s time to wake up, Andrew.





Ahnk’s eyes fluttered open, gradually, heavy under his frustrated exhaustion. He was surprised to not wake up on Ossus, in the cold, but instead in a warm, smoky haze. He took a few seconds to look around before remembering where exactly he was, rather then where he was not.

He was on Coruscant. He had forgotten.

His chase for his son had, to that point, been pretty much futile. Smith had been doing some running around but Ahnk knew that his best bet would be to find Chang. If Chang was alive, then he would know where she put the boy, and he would help him… one way or the other.

But Chang wasn’t around. Not kicking back on Yavin and not anywhere he had looked. Sabin didn’t know where to find him and he wasn’t in the Ison corridor. Chang had likely gone underground… whether he was hiding from Ahnk, or coming after him, no one was sure. But Ahnk had come to Coruscant to find out.

He had been waiting. Waiting, here, in this hotel, for someone to show up. Someone Sabin would send, using her contacts. But to this point, no one had come.

Ahnk sighed. He was never fond of hotels, and since he didn’t know how long he would be staying, and wanting to make sure someone would find him, he had ultimately elected for an inexpensive hotel unlikely to try and block any attempts to find him with complex security firewalls and well-paid staff. So he had to put up with the rowdy bar below, wafting smoke up to him at happy hour, with occasional trick being turned next door. While annoying, it was in the end a small sacrifice if it meant that he could get back his son.

But now that he thought about it… it was awfully quiet for happy hour. In fact… it was much more smokier then usual, leading Ahnk to suspect…

And when he heard the breathing behind him, he confirmed that he was not alone. He began to turn…

“For one of the few posthumus inductees in the Order of Palpatine, you look rather alive and none the worse for wear to me.”

The man leaned forward, ominously intimidating in just his silent gaze, downright terrifying with his soft and understated voice.

“So tell me, Master Ahnk, just where the hell have you been for the past few years?”

Coruscant





A marker had been called.

A contact had been made.

That contact had acted.

And so did someone else.


The woman named Sabin had been under the employ of the Empire for a few years. Never once having given anyone who knew her story a cause for suspicion, there was still the occasional tap.

Not necessarily to see if she would betray the Empire.

But rather, given her background, to see who would end up coming into her new Imperial life.




The Brotherhood of the Sith was nothing more than a memory.

But a powerful memory.

Not even in the vaunted, secret halls of the Empire could The Naboo Sith Order erase their memory.



For, while the great Sith Master Ahnk and his own personal empire was gone, evidence of its presence lingered.

In the history books of the Empire, they were called heroes! Even the Empire could not simply ignore the great sacrifice of Ahnk’s empire as his Massassi turned on the Republic warships over Dantooine.


The damage could have…would have been extensive. A permanent knife in the Empire if the Republic had actually taken the planet and established a foothold near the Braxant Sector.

If not for the balancing act of the Brotherhood…


…and act that shattered itself as it’s leader was taken aboard the Jenova. No one in the Empire had been able to ascertain the fate of Master Ahnk and so, he had been removed from history.




Or so Imperial Intelligence believed until the rumors began to come back in force. Of course, being rumors, the missing Sith Master Ahnk had been seen in practically every seedy district from the Outer Rim to the Core beating up five armed Jedi with his bare hands along the way.

Of course, being rumors, Intelligence generally ignored them. But even rumors have some basis in fact and so any tabs on known former associates of the Brotherhood and of Ahnk were picked up.


Ciscero looked at the cipher again, seeing the man enter the woman-named-Sabin’s office. A man matching Ahnk’s description.


Having never met the man, the agent could not be sure at first. The information the Empire held on him was sketchy at best.

But the Republic’s information?

They had mountains of it and with their former capital of Corellia captured, it did not take long for the Intelligence Man to correlate what he saw with hard visual information found in those enemy archives.



Master Ahnk. Returned from the dead.

But returned from where?



And so…

A marker had been called.

A contact had been made.

That contact had acted.




Thankfully, the contact had been human and had been easily captured by stormtroopers directed by Ciscero. After interrogation he was puzzled to find that the Sith Master was simply after information; and information about a person at that.



Where had Ahnk been for the past few years?



Ciscero decided to replace the contact.

After obtaining the necessary information and after a few simple cosmetic alterations, the contact stared at his mirror. Ciscero would have him held until he returned. If the information proved correct, the contact would be released and Sabin allowed to keep her “network”.

It was good to have contacts and Ciscero found it counterproductive to interfere with such ‘networks’ unless treason was involved. And even then, there was treason and then there was treason.

The contact would not tell for to do so would compromise his usefulness and it gave Ciscero leverage. A bit of information he tucked away in his mind as he went to work.


Taking copies of the New Republic Intelligence file on Ahnk, Ciscero read on the transport to Coruscant. The file read like a drama tale though there were evident gaps in what the old Republics had. More supposition and speculation than real hard data. But it was more than Ciscero had and so thanked those former dead enemy agents.








And so here he was. In a hotel.


Having quietly ordered the bar under the room evacuated and several assets stationed far out. With force users, the best way to handle them was with snipers. Their force sensitivity did have limits. Action against numerous Jedi had shown at least that much.

If Ahnk decided to get nasty, it really wouldn’t matter if his assets were outside the door or 500 paces out. At least, it really wouldn’t matter to him. And so he opted to spare his assets on location and station them 500 paces out. Better they return to their families than be wasted.

There was always some sort of thrill that twinged his emotions when he went up against a force user. And while the Sith of the Naboo Sith Order liked everyone to believe they could do all things, he knew even force users had their limits.

They could die from a blaster shot like anyone else.

They just had to not see it coming. And that was the trick.


Misdirection.

Indirect.


That seemed, at least from his experience, to lessen (if not nullify) their 6th sense of danger.




As he moved in the room quietly he noted the Sith Master fast asleep.

The man had an appearance of having been to hell and back.

Tortured?



He decided to wait and sat down content in knowing that his assets would remain ready.



After a while, he lit a smoke and sat back content to wait patiently.


Awareness came slowly to Ahnk at the onset of consciousness and Ciscero blew the last of the smoke into the space that divided them.


Ahnk turned and saw the Intelligence man seated.


“For one of the few posthumus inductees in the Order of Palpatine, you look rather alive and none the worse for wear to me.”

He leaned forward slightly. “So tell me, Master Ahnk, just where the hell have you been for the past few years?”
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Ahnk’s immediate reaction was to run. If he had gotten in the room, he’d killed Bill, and if he’d killed Bill…

But he hadn’t killed Bill. Bill was asleep, in the hall. If he had fallen asleep or been drugged, Ahnk did not know. He didn’t realty have time to ascertain, senses on overload looking for agents… and drawing a blank. Ahnk’s eyes focused and narrowed on the agent, briefly considering if he had been foolish enough to charge in here, no discernable force sensitivity, and no backup. That unflinching gaze told him that he had, and moreover, was confident now in that decision.

“You’re good. Very brave… and possibly stupid… but good.”

He sat back. Just in case there was a sniper somewhere, his best bet would be to eliminate as many shots as possible by leaning back in his chair, ready at any moment to roll away. That man, in the chair… he was good, but Ahnk wagered not good enough to not prepare a contingency plan in case the world fell apart.

So Ahnk sat back in his chair, eyeing the suspected II agent with hands gripping the rungs. Coiled even at rest.

“In regards to my posthumous induction into your order… uh… thanks... I don’t have to pay a membership fee do I? Either way, I guess that’s kinda cool…”

A hand came up from the chair, scratching at Ahnk’s rough goatee.

“As far as me being alive… well, yeah. None the worse for wear? I suppose that really depends on what you intend to wear me for…”

He eyed the agent for any hint of emotion, and finding none, continued.

“As to where the hell I’ve been for the past few years… well, I did some fishing. A little farming. It was all pretty mundane.”

Ahnk glanced either way, considering carefully, before chancing it and leaning forward in his seat, eyes locked onto the agent again.

“But… correct me if I am wrong, but you were asked to come here by Sabin, correct? So you’re not here to ask me questions, but to answer mine.”

With that stated, Ahnk sat back in his chair.

“Where’s Chang?”

Ciscero's mind discarded the unconcealed threat mingled with the offhanded compliment.


Every fucking force user has them! They think they are fucking gods..


Then Ahnk played cute. It did not suit him.


Ciscero's eyes narrowed as they zeroed in on the target of Master Ahnk's attention.


A show of irritation moved across Ciscero's face.


"I am HERE," he corrected, "because a marker, a favor had been called. I am doing you a favor by being here, so don't get all high and mighty on me. You want to know where Chang is, brilliant! I don't give a fuck. Tell me how telling you is going to benefit me?"

Ahnk shook his head. Something wasn’t right…

If Sabin had called someone in to provide Ahnk with information, it would have been someone who she could control and thus, by virtue of her servitude to Ahnk, he could control as well. That the person sitting in the chair did not seem to fear Ahnk at all did not seem to fit.

Though…

The synapses in the former Sith’s brain began firing at a rapid rate. He wasn’t sure who the agent was, but he knew who he wasn’t and, with luck, how to best handle him and get the information he wanted…

“I apologize for my… condescension… earlier. The truth is, I’m not very good at… this… talking, thing. I’m used to telling people what I want and getting it… a powerful man in your position certainly understands that.”

He gave the agent a few seconds to digest that, and continued.

“I’ll be straightforward. I am looking for Chang, someone who as a former aid of mine during and after my Empire’s collaboration with your order, I would assume that you would occasionally keep tabs on. If you haven’t… then I’ve wasted your time and I apologize.”

Ahnk leaned forward.

“But if you have any information regarding his whereabouts, then let it be known that that is information I value very highly. And if you were to give me such information, I would provide you with any means of compensation I have at my disposal.”

Ahnk slowly pushed himself off of his chair, making sure not to make any sudden moves. He turned to the liquor cabinet in the room.

“Would you like a drink?”